Channel of Peace - Kevin Tuerff

 During our travels this summer we found ourselves on September 11, 2022 in Gander Newfoundland. We ended up attending the 21st Anniversary of 9/11 Commemoration Service while in Gander. Many persons spoke including US ambassador to Canada, David L Cohen. While there, we were very impressed with how welcoming and helpful the local folks were to us outsiders.

In the book Channel of Peace Kevin Tuerff provides a beautiful account of how the people of Gander area rallied in generosity and compassion for the “plane people" on 9/11. This renewed Kevins’s spirituality and inspired him to organize an annual and growing Pay It forward 9/11 effort. Later his story along with many others was incorporated into the Broadway musical Come From Away. This is an unforgettable uplifting tale of goodwill, the strength of the human spirit, and hope.

“The famous Golden Rule from the Christian Bible, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Matthew 7:12) has identical teachings in Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam. My prayer is that as countries across the globe, we can work to better understand how much we have in common. Differences in gender, race, religion, political party, or sexual orientation shouldn’t draw battle lines between the human race. We need each other to coexist in peace.” Quote by Kevin Tuerff Channel of Peace chapter 9.

I find that this challenges us to make kindness and generosity a part of our lives. I can highly recommend this book to you.

Thank you Rev. Eric Hamlyn for bringing this book to my attention,